The Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Wednesday started considering a loan worth up to $300 million for NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy to buy natural gas on the European market to fill storage facilities for the upcoming heating season, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said.
“We expect that the EBRD Board of Directors will give their thumbs-up to an additional $300 million for Ukraine to buy gas on the western border to meet the needs of the Ukrainian economy,” he said at a government meeting in Kyiv on Sept. 30.
Should the loan be approved, Naftogaz will hold a tender in keeping with the EBRD’s procedures to buy gas for $300 million on the western border.
Naftogaz has already accumulated $500 million, Yatsenyuk said, and the EBRD’s decision will unblock another $500 million which will be provided by the World Bank against state guarantees on gas purchases.
“Thus, the total package of financing needed for this winter is about $1.3 billion, including $500 million already available in the account,” he said.
